LIVE REVIEW: OCEAN SLEEPER + NEVERTEL + VANA + OUTLOVED @ THE PRINCESS THEATRE 05/09/26
Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi Photos
Well, after a huge week with many fine concerts and gigs going on around town, it was with sold-out anticipation that a huge crowd started gathering early for the musical feast and the largest headline show that Gippsland’s Ocean Sleeper brought to Brisbane’s Princess Theatre.
The tickets flew out the door for this event and were sold out within two days, and the VIP experiences were also sold out within that time. In fact, there were three VIP events for New Zealand’s Vana in the beer garden, the American band Nevertel, who got the best location upstairs in the bar, and the Victorians, Ocean Sleeper and their huge fanbase, who took control of the main theatre. Fans were very happy to engage with the bands and their “experiences” before making themselves ready with drinks and preferred spots around the venue, and settled in for the night.
The evening commenced with Melbourne band Outloved. The band were given the assignment of warming up the large crowd. The lead singer Jaydon Colvin had ‘Die For Nothing’ on the back of his shirt as his falsettovocals blended with the distorted guitar-picked melodies of Conor Kelly and Michael “Beany” Beane, and the drum kicked in courtesy of Luke Bakker.
Outloved delivered the first wall of death, circle pit and chunky headbanging chugs that put the band’s versatility on show. The band’s new songs ‘Run’ and ‘I Love Me’ were featured as they had the crowd engaged, with hands in the air, waving and phone lights in the air. They played older songs ‘Blind & Falling’, ‘Disconnect’ and ‘Drowner’ as the crowd started to bounce through their tight 30-minute set.
It was a quick changeover, but it was extended a little with some drum kit technical issues, before alternative metal band Vana and her band, Niles Gibbs, Harlan Allen-Jones and Mathieux Davis, took to the stage.
At the VIP experience I told Vana (aka Yvonne Winckel)that I had seen her live twice and she responded: “Oh no. Really? God. We are so much better now – I promise.” I said that I had been pretty happy before but was really looking forward to tonight. And I was not disappointed.
Vana brought the industrial metal sound with hyper-pop sweetness as the band exploded with joyful high energy in the mood lighting. The set started with ‘Pray’ and ‘Noxious’. Vana may be small in stature, but when she and her band took the stage, they became larger than life. From those opening moments, she had the entire venue in the palm of her hand. She directed the mosh pits, the bounce and the wall of death.
The crowd was buzzing and hyped up as ‘In Your Name’, ‘Serpentine’ and ‘Bite Back’ were performed. Vana’s vocals were strong, and honestly, even better than on the recordings, as the transition between her clean vocals and screams were perfect and effortless. Vana has two modes: sassy and sweet. The songs ‘Beg!’ demonstrated that as Vana moved between smirks and smiles at the crowd. She closed out her short set with the final song, ‘Clandestine’, where she pulled out her guitar. It was a perfect end.
There was another quick changeover as the stage was made ready for the Florida-based band, Nevertel, who are touring Australia for the first time. Their stage set-up and lighting were really beautiful and matched the music that was delivered.
Nevertel impressed as soon as they started their set with ‘Break The Silence’. The band, Jeremy Michael, Raul Lopez,Alec Davis and drummer Kevin Marks, delivered razor-sharp songs with melodic dreaminess that blended into crushing intensity with shattering breakdowns like in ‘Last Breath’. The band’s musical style combines a variety of genres: from metalcore, nu metal, hip-hop and electronic dance music.
Tampa’s Nevertel delivered songs like ‘Sacrifice’, ‘Otherside’, ‘Some Things’ and ‘Criminal’ as Jeremy Michael’s melodic vocals broke against those of harder-edged co-vocalist Raul Lopez. The band’s fanbase was loving this first-ever performance in Brisbane. They sang along and headbanged at full volume: the local fanbase was here for them. Nevertel’s soaring hooks and cathartic delivery were just brilliant. They engaged with their fans so well during and after the performance. It was joyful to watch. This band should be on your radar.
Then, there was another stage rearrangment as a drum kit was removed. The centre-stage drum kit was uncoveredand readied. The light and backing screen projected the calm of the ocean in the most beautiful green light. The whole stage lit up. Then, the crowd waited and waited.
What we were waiting for was the regional Victorian band Ocean Sleeper. The Princess Theatre was now packed and it was difficult to get around. I was upstairs for the start of the Ocean Sleepers set, which was coded in colour and emotionally resonant introduction music before the clean vocalist and guitarist Ionei Heckenberg came out on stage solo to start the band’s set with ‘Every Part Of Me’. In the background, the drummer Daniel Stivens had settled into the kit. Then, unclean vocalist Karl Spiessl and guitarist Stan Liagourdis to fill out the sharper and heavier sonic soundscape. It was an astonishing start.
Ocean Sleeper transformed the Princess Theatre into party central as their fans moshed and sang along at full volume and the place went off when ‘Break The Cycle’ was performed. It was followed by the circle pit inducing ‘Heaven’ and the tour title track ‘Peace When I’m Dead’. Then, suddenly, blow-up bottles of “Fireball” were bouncing around the venue with the crowd. Karl Spiessl caught one mid-song before throwing it back out into the mosh.
Ocean Sleeper’s fans were in metalcore heaven as ‘Someone Better’, ‘Skin Deep’, ‘Promise’ and ‘Light In My Dark’ were delivered. Brisbane fans were ecstatic to finally be able to see them perform live. The melodic and layered vocals are the key to the band’s fabulous sound, but the instrumentation didn't fall short either. Ocean Sleeper played with the utmost amount of confidence and did not miss a note, all while each member interacted with the crowd in their own, individual ways.
What was amazing from this gig was the quality of Ocean Sleeper’s songs and the changes the band had crafted in EPs like 2022’s ‘Is It Better Feeling Nothing’ and 2024’s ‘Maybe Death Is All I Need’. The new songs from ‘Peace When I’m Dead’ combine a mix of electronic and atmospheric layers that lift the nu-metal and metalcore melodic leads and breakdowns, as heard in ‘Punishment’, ‘Take Me To The Grave’ and ‘My Forever Drug’.
Ocean Sleeper closed out their set with older songs like the pop-punk ‘Lonely Love’, ‘Never The One’, ‘King Of Nothing’ and the huge fan moment of ‘Maybe Death Is All I Need’. Their set was massively entertaining, tight and fun. It was impressive!
